Newsletter Update - 21/08/23
I wanted to give a little update on the past couple weeks since I arrived back in Kona, what I have been doing and what God has been doing, and about ‘Endeavor’ the school I’ll be staffing. I have split this newsletter into sections so you can read whatever tickles your fancy!
This is a picture from our retreat week as a staff team at the start of Leadership Training
This past month
Training started on the 24th of July and we spent the week at one of our YWAM properties on the island and took time considering what we want our core values to be as a staff team and in starting this new DTS. We also had an amazing week of bonding and getting to know each other as a staff team as we were all coming from different pathways within YWAM.
Week 2 and our lecture topic that week was Missions - how to endure in missions, maintain vision and why we do it. We were back on base for classes and a more regular schedule. We have lectures, intercession, worship, evangelism here on the island, fundraising, work duty, book groups and HOMEWORK!!! Our first assignment was to create a presentation on a missionary of our choice, my missionary was Mary Slessor who was a Scottish lady that felt called to Nigeria and ended up spending the majority of her life in the mission field there. It was so cool to do more research on missionaries of the past and see the ways God used them to impact people and also feel encouraged by their testimonies.
Week 3 consisted of more practicals on leading outreach teams, working with co-leaders, and wisdom in dealing with certain situations the correct ways or the best ways we can. We spent time also working with the Fire & Fragrance Leadership Track running actual simulations of outreach scenarios.
Week 4 topic was discipleship and so we touched on what that will look like in the setting of staffing a DTS and discipling students, whether they are new to faith or have been walking with God for their whole lives. We were able to run practice scenarios and also really look at what biblical discipleship is and how to effectively carry it out.
We also had a book to read over the last few weeks ‘Values Matter’ by Darlene Cunningham based on the eighteen values of YWAM. It was really good to dive in deep to what YWAM stands for and the values they hold themselves to as I will be serving for and with them it was nice to have a clear layout of what we are to stand for. Some of the values that really struck me were ‘Value 1: Know God’ ‘Value 12: Do First, Then Teach’ and ‘Value 18: Communicate with Integrity’. I loved these values in particular because although they are essential to keep YWAM’s vision I found that a lot of what these values touched on is very applicable to life outside missions, basic foundations for life.
Endeavor
A little bit more about the school I will be staffing.
Endeavor is a new DTS (discipleship training school) YWAM Kona is running. The idea is to merge 3-4 of the different schools running throughout the year to go from having 7-8 schools running each quarter to 4, with the intention of helping create more unity between schools. So beginning in the September quarter there will be 4 DTS’s running - Crossroads, Rising (the Korean Bilingual DTS), Fire & Fragrance, and Endeavor. There are three foundational words behind Endeavor: ENCOUNTER - FAMILY - NATIONS. We are believing that God wants to meet us in a new life-changing way. We want to learn to hear God’s voice, obey His words and see Him move in power. We are all about fun, friendship and going after God together. We want to pursue Jesus and the lost together and unlock potential.
Endeavor will be running DTS’s in the September, January and April quarters and in terms of outreach as a school the focus areas we really felt on our hearts were ‘Sub-saharan Africa’ ‘The Middle East’ and ‘The Pacific Islands’. What this means is that 75% of the outreach teams that we send out from our schools will go to countries within these areas. We want to start setting up more regular missions teams heading to similar locations to really build up long term contacts and help with discipling those nations. Rather than having one team go for 3 months then relationships end there, we would have the next team be sent to that location so that the relationship can continue to be built and the people we are ministering to will have more constant discipleship. However because the school is in its foundational phase there will only be a September quarter running this year.
Next steps
Going forwards, it has been decided in the past couple days that because Endeavor is just starting our school leaders have decided that will only be running a school in September. What this means that after staff training ends mid September we will start the school September 22nd. We will have a staff team of roughly 35 and around 110 students. I was very much feeling God put on my heart to staff the September quarter and so I have peace about the school leaders decision to only run a September school this year.
Farewell party for some of our leadership moving to one of the YWAM Norway bases
In terms of prayer requests; please be praying for the students we will have coming in - in particular the students I will work more closely with that God will encounter them in new ways and He will use me to impact them. Also be praying for financial provision - I have been blessed with monthly support coming in that covers all my monthly needs, however I need to be putting money away to go towards my outreach at the end of December which will be roughly £4000 ($5000) which I need to raise in full before then. Please also be praying to see if God is putting it on your heart to support me in this way.
Thank you so much for your support and prayers! If you are interested in
supporting me financially please reach out to me:
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